[ecrea] CFP, The Press and the Vote

NEWSPAPER & PERIODICAL HISTORY FORUM OF IRELAND
http://www.newspapersperiodicals.org/

CALL FOR PAPERS - THE PRESS AND THE VOTE
Tenth Anniversary Conference, National University of Ireland, Galway,
9-10 November 2018

‘The gallery in which the reporters sit has become the fourth estate
of the realm’ wrote Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1843. The role of the
press in informing or influencing, misleading or educating voters has
been debated before and since Macaulay’s statement. In 2018 the
question of the role and influence of the established press in
referendums and elections is as relevant as ever. Marking the
centenary of the 1918 general election in Britain and Ireland, 2018
presents a pertinent point to examine these questions.

Held in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, the 1918
general election was the first under the Representation of the People
Act where franchise, with some limitations, was extended to women over
thirty and men over twenty-one. In Britain it was a successful
election for the wartime coalition government and saw a significant
increase in Labour’s share of the vote, though not seats. In Ireland
there was a landslide victory for Sinn Féin, who largely wiped out the
Irish Parliamentary Party, and went on to form the abstentionist First
Dáil. It also saw the first election of a woman to the Westminster
parliament, though as a Sinn Féin candidate Countess Markievicz did
not take her seat. The parties and perspectives involved in the
election all had their supporters and critics in the press: the
establishment as represented by the coalition, the Labour movement,
the spectrum of radical and socialist organisations, Irish nationalism
and the women’s suffrage movement.

The Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland (NPHFI) invites
papers that interrogate the press and the vote from a range of
disciplinary perspectives. The focus of papers should be on print
media and / or its intersection and interaction with other forms of
media insofar as they relate to the history of print.

Papers are not required to specifically address Britain or Ireland, or
the 1918 general election; they may address any historical period, up
to and including the present day, and any geographical region or
regions. Topics that may be addressed include, but are not limited to:

·       The press as an institution of electoral democracy.
·       The press and electoral propaganda and disinformation.
·       The press in landmark votes and referendums.
·       The press and post-war elections.
·       The press and the extension or restriction of franchise.
·       The press and women’s suffrage.
·       The Vote as an instrument of social change for the women’s
suffragist and labour press.

To submit a proposal please email an abstract of no more than 250
words to the NPHFI secretary, Dr James O’Donnell, at
(nphficonference /at/ gmail.com).

Abstracts must contain a clear title and present clearly the main
thesis / argument proposed. Each abstract must also include name(s),
affiliation, institutional address and email address(es) of the
author(s).

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 7 June 2018.

The Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland seeks to achieve
gender balance on its conference panels and welcomes proposals from
researchers of all career stages working in academia, media, and in
professional organisations.

Hosted by the Moore Institute in association with the Centre for the
Investigation of Transnational Encounters (CITE) and the Irish Centre
for the Histories of labour and Class (ICHLC), and with thanks to the
support of Gale Primary Sources.

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